Public transit lines such as buses and trains are critical travel systems for getting people where they need to go. They are designed to move people quickly and efficiently through many areas, including dense urban streets, rural routes, highways and freeways, and neighborhood roads. But these lines can’t run if the buses and trains can’t leave the station.
Whether for train depots, bus garages or even airport passenger operations, transit overhead doors help keep operations running smoothly – day in and day out. These doors must be reliable and durable to efficiently serve hundreds or even thousands of people every day.
That’s why Metro Transit in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, chose Rytec doors for their bus facility.
See why Metro Transit chose efficient, low maintenance, cost-saving Rytec doors to keep its facility moving.
Metro Transit has 920 buses that provide nearly 39 million rides every year across a 900-square-mile service area. To maintain this high level of service, the company upgraded its overhead doors to address aging infrastructure and inefficient amenities. Metro Transit had installed an exterior Spiral® commercial overhead door several years prior and employees noticed it worked more efficiently and reliably than other panel doors. Because of this positive experience, the company installed a new interior Fast-Seal® fabric door in 2020.
Efficiency and Speed
The facility chose Rytec high-performance doors because they are engineered for high-traffic, high-cycle environments and millions of operating cycles. They offer high-speed operation and fast opening and closing speeds to ensure superior functionality, increased efficiency and lasting durability. They can also withstand the harsh Minnesota winters with integral weatherseals, full-height vinyl door seals and durable construction.
The Fast-Seal door opens at speeds up to 50 inches per second and the Spiral door opens at speeds up to 60 inches per second, allowing for improved bus traffic flow in and out of the facility.
Rytec doors have helped Metro Transit keep operations running smoothly and efficiently while reducing energy and maintenance costs. Facility technician Matt Homan has noticed a big difference between the older panel doors and the Rytec doors. “They move so much faster than the old panel doors. These are just up and down, and the boilers run a lot less, so it’s energy savings,” he said.
Pathwatch® Safety Light Systems
The Fast-Seal door includes the Pathwatch safety light system. This intuitive and customizable safety communication technology provides advanced warning to vehicle drivers and pedestrians to help increase threshold safety. Unlike conventional warning lights, it attracts attention from nearly every angle and direction of travel — exactly when and where it’s most critical.
- LED lights. Pathwatch offers bright, energy-efficient lights that warn personnel that the door panel is about to move.
- Intuitive lighting. It flashes amber-colored lights when the door is about to move and red lights when the door is closing.
- Adjustable. The flash rate is fully adjustable to match timing to your facility’s needs.
“The lights work great. The driver can pull up and see them turn yellow, and he knows it’s going to start coming down. Then it starts flashing red, and that’s when it’s moving. So he’ll wait until it cycles and then it’ll open up again for him. So it saves on drivers hitting our doors,” said Homan.
Easy to Repair
High-performance doors can also withstand the rigorous demands of the fast-paced transit industry. Their low-maintenance design assures smooth, continuous operations without extensive maintenance. With fewer wear parts and proven to last millions of cycles, they feature the low maintenance, dependability and longevity the Metro Transit facility needs.
The Spiral® door’s construction has no metal-to-metal contact, which reduces wear on the door panel and offers fast, quiet operation. Its counterbalance system, patented spiral design and AC drive reduce wear and increase door longevity, with minimal preventative maintenance. It delivers high-speed operation and features rigid aluminum slat construction that eliminates the need for a second security door.
The Fast-Seal door was the first high-speed industrial door that could take a hit without suffering damage. It’s built to withstand pressure and winds using the System II independent counterbalance and tensioning system. Homan is particularly impressed by the Fast-Seal® door’s Break-Away™ bottom bar, which can be reset in just seconds without tools. This keeps buses moving efficiently through the facility with minimal door downtime and maintenance.
Homan concluded: “The reason I recommend Rytec doors is they’re easy to repair. There’s not a lot of moving parts, and if they do get hit, the majority of the time, you can just reset the bottom, which is very easy to do.”
Contact us today to learn more about high-performance transportation facility doors.
